How devolution is affecting social care: Bernie Kelly, social work manager, Northern Ireland

Bernie Kelly, a social work manager for under-65s at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, talks about his experiences.

“[When it comes to resolving the issue of safeguarding and personalisation] we are talking about very vulnerable people and we have to make sure that the person who is employed [in a personal assistant capacity] is suitable. People don’t have to be CRB checked to work with the elderly but they do to work with children and the disabled in Northern Ireland but in the majority of cases we are insisting they are checked.

“I think [social work] has a strong voice. We have the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the regulatory body for the social care workforce in Northern Ireland) and social workers have to be registered and keep up with their training.”